Chapter 1 The Outcome

The most satisfied with the outcome of the first match was Tan Weishi. As soon as the gathering broke up that day, the Iron Armadillo fell into her hands, and after she understood how to play with it, she immediately took the Iron Armadillo into the palace to show off to her royal father and mother.

The scene of that day was passed around in everyone's mouths for several days, until seven days later, the Shangbao Hall revealed its second treasure.

If the Jade Dragonfly in the first competition was somewhat opportunistic, then the second item Shangbao Hall produced had no element of opportunism at all. Lou Qingxi had said that these three items were all to be presented at the wedding ceremony for the marriage alliance between the two countries, and this second item was precisely a female ornament, an ornament that could become an important part of the wedding ceremony, a Nine-Phoenix Coronet.

In terms of subject matter selection, there was no doubt that the coronet produced by Shangbao Hall was somewhat presumptuous. In today's world, the unified empire from hundreds of years ago has disintegrated, and now each country governs itself, with the rulers of each country only claiming to be kings. According to the current etiquette system, no woman in the world is qualified to wear a coronet adorned with nine phoenixes. However, for wedding ceremonies, placed under the red veil, in fact, everyone in various countries and regions is overstepping the bounds, from ordinary people to princes and nobles, almost everyone is "nine phoenixes," taking the auspicious meaning and ignoring the etiquette system.

However, this Nine-Phoenix Coronet truly demonstrated Shangbao Hall's solid and exquisite jewelry-making craftsmanship and its profound understanding of jewelry aesthetics. The coronet used several silver strips to connect to form a central frame, and a hairnet made of silver silk mesh and white ribbon was used near the head to allow the coronet to be firmly fixed on the hair. On the other side of the frame, gold, silver, gemstones, and pearls were used to construct the images of nine phoenixes of different shapes.

Although the coronet was inlaid with gold and jade, and the materials used were extremely exquisite and solid, it did not give people the nouveau riche vulgarity, but appeared dignified and luxurious, elegant yet approachable, quiet yet lively, and beautiful, which can be called a perfect portrayal of feminine beauty.

The Jade Dragonfly that day did not give Ye Tao a headache, but this coronet made him feel a little troubled. Isn't this completely about comparing aesthetics and skill? He wondered what he could compare with this specially crafted coronet made with so much meticulous work and countless adjustments. Shangbao Hall had indeed reached a rather pinnacle state in the use of jewelry, jade, and gemstones. It was almost impossible to develop further under the current technical conditions.

And this time, Ye Tao felt that five days did not seem to be enough.

Whether it was enough time or not was one thing, but in any case, what needed to be done had to be done. After careful consideration, Ye Tao also roughly determined a plan:

First of all, he definitely couldn't use gold, silver, jade, and stone as the main materials. On the one hand, it was easy to cause comparisons with similar materials, and as a latecomer, it was easy to not please the viewers who had preconceived notions. Moreover, Lou Qingxi was too familiar with the processing of gold and jade materials, and the production in such a short period of time would inevitably have some imperfections, which were easy for experts to find flaws.

Secondly, both the craftsmanship and design of the Nine-Phoenix Coronet had reached a considerable height, and it was indeed not easy to win against it on a similar stage. However, using processes that no one had ever seen before and putting more effort into the conception of the design could easily bypass everyone's prejudices and win the victory in a unique way, and he was somewhat confident.

Under these circumstances, Ye Tao finally used one of the Ye Family Workshop's technological reserves: cloisonné enamel technology (Jingtailan).

For the current era, cloisonné enamel (Jingtailan) technology was quite difficult. Generally speaking, the production of cloisonné enamel (Jingtailan) involves several processes: shaping the body, filigree, enamel filling, enamel firing, polishing, and gilding. The need for extremely high temperatures was only one of the difficulties. What was even more troublesome was the need for various materials and extremely complex detailed processes, especially polishing and gilding.

Polishing usually requires the use of coarse sandstone, yellow stone, and charcoal to grind the uneven enamel flat in three times. Uneven places need to be repaired with enamel and fired before repeated polishing, and finally, charcoal and scrapers are used to polish and brighten the copper wire base and mouth line without enamel. There are really many processes involved, and each process takes a considerable amount of time. As for gilding, it was another problem. At this time, at least for now, Ye Tao had not yet developed electroplating technology, so this process, which was extremely easy in the original era, became very troublesome. Fortunately, the preparation of various materials was very sufficient, and there was no problem of finding things temporarily.

Compared to the traditional cloisonné enamel (Jingtailan) with red, blue, and green as the main colors, Ye Tao was much richer in terms of color. The mineral powders that he could use as enamel pigments were enough for him to be bolder and even bolder in terms of color. When he was experimenting in Yicheng, he was able to present nine to twelve colors on cloisonné enamel (Jingtailan), and now that Tan Weixin had almost opened the Ministry of Works' mineral warehouse to Ye Tao, Ye Tao could always come up with more colors.

Even though everyone was working so hard this time, five days was really too tight. In these sixty hours, Ye Tao slept for less than six hours, and spent the rest of the time in the workshop with his apprentices, sweating like rain, completing one delicate process after another in the scorching heat.

When the five-day deadline arrived, Ye Tao finally completed the work, but he was so tired that he fell asleep, and even the display of the work was later instructed by Tan Weixin to be handled by Lu Dan.

Since he was in that position, he should seek its governance. At first, Lu Dan was tricked into being Ye Tao's housekeeper, that was true, but since he did it, he had to do it well, Lu Dan's idea was that simple. And this time, Shangbao Hall made his young master so tired, Lu Dan was a little annoyed.

The exhibition was still held at Mingyu Tower. When Lu Dan arrived, most of the guests had been waiting for a while. Seeing that Ye Tao's work display this time was so late, and very different from the last time's calmness and dramatic effect, those guys who were wholeheartedly hoping to overwhelm Shangbao Hall were somewhat apprehensive. However, when everyone saw Lu Dan jumping down from the carriage with a huge box in his arms, they breathed a sigh of relief; finally here.

Lu Dan rumbled up the stairs and slammed the large wooden box heavily on the table that was set up the same as last time. The heavy and lingering metallic sound made everyone present tremble. The style of the wooden box had also changed a lot. This time it was not a delicate and beautiful mirror finish, but simply painted with a layer of black paint, but the corners of the box were wrapped in iron sheets, and the front of the box was inlaid with a very majestic iron lion face sculpture, which looked very mighty.

"My young master has been working day and night, and is now sleeping. He won't be able to come and greet everyone today. I have no choice but to be presumptuous and send this thing here on behalf of my young master for everyone to evaluate. Later, when my young master has had enough sleep, he will naturally come to your door to apologize for not being able to come here today." Lu Dan claimed to be presumptuous, and the temperament he showed was indeed so.

He lifted the lid of the box and held out the contents, placing it flat on the table. Everyone swarmed up and looked in disbelief at this strangely shaped... "cup."

"This thing, my young master named 'Iron-Blooded Hero Goblet.' It is a super-sized wine glass, and it will also be presented to the Lord at the time of the Lord's wedding, in memory of the Lord's heroic act of using a golden helmet as a wine glass sixteen years ago to embolden 20,000 warriors, and in one fell swoop, kill through the Northern Liao Southern Garden Army. The young master said that the Chunnan merchants added a hat to my future Dongping Princess, which is also a beautiful thing, and we loyal subjects should follow suit. But the Lord's hats are just those few, and we small people can't make them. Then use the shape of a helmet to make a wine glass."

Lu Dan was not Ye Tao. If Ye Tao were here, even if he said the same words, his tone would be at most calm with a hint of banter. But Lu Dan was different. He was already holding a fire in his belly, and he came from the military, even if he was a housekeeper, he brought many habits from the military into the current Ye residence, and the air of killing and decisiveness in his tone had not diminished slightly. He finished speaking these words with a sonorous voice, immediately causing a burst of applause and cheers.

This was the difference in everyone's ideas. The Nine-Phoenix Coronet at most added a few points of beauty to Princess Bailian, while the Iron-Blooded Hero Goblet commemorated the Lord's great achievements. With this idea, even if Ye Tao had Lu Dan bring an ordinary wine glass today, so many Dongping officials and children present, or people who wanted to get into this circle, would inevitably evaluate Ye Tao's victory. What's more, this helmet-shaped Iron-Blooded Hero Goblet did have an extremely intimidating charm.

The Iron-Blooded Hero Goblet was composed of two parts. Below was the base bracket, which could hold the wine glass steady and would not tip over when pouring wine. The upper part was a shrunken helmet, and the helmet had strong and powerful lines. Moreover, copper wire filigree and coloring was used as a tool to draw a magnificent scene of a general swearing an oath to go on an expedition, and soldiers bravely shouting in response. The Iron-Blooded Hero Goblet may not be as gorgeous and delicate as the Nine-Phoenix Coronet, but it was superior in its original intention and content. As for the craftsmanship, at first glance, even Lou Qingxi didn't understand how the Iron-Blooded Hero Goblet was made, how the metal lines and brilliant colors could be combined, and how a metal utensil could burst out such wonderful brilliance.

"I am convinced, Shangbao Hall has lost this second match again. Five days later, please gather at Bao Yin Pavilion. This final round must be a victory or defeat."